MX23RW : Friday, December 13 10:38:50| >> :600:649850:649850:

Neville hoping 'sensational' team building with Marines will aid World Cup bid

Neville hoping 'sensational' team building with Marines will aid World Cup bid
© Reuters
England Women play Denmark in Walsall on Saturday in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match.

England boss Phil Neville hopes this week's team-building experience with the Royal Marines has left his players better equipped for the potential challenges ahead at the Women's World Cup.

The Lionesses were with the Marines at St George's Park from Wednesday lunchtime to Thursday morning as preparations continued for the tournament in France that gets under way in two weeks.

The players, who had not known the event was going to take place, took part in various military-style exercises, constructed tarpaulin shelters to sleep in, cooked food on campfires and spoke to the Marines, some of whom were amputees, about their experiences.

Neville, whose side face Denmark in Walsall on Saturday in their penultimate World Cup warm-up match, said: "When you're going away to a World Cup there's going to be massive ups and downs – emotional, homesickness, missing family, you're playing, you're not playing, you're playing well, you make mistakes, tears, whatever.

"And you need to know that the people next to you, you can trust. You need to know the person next to you is a sister, or a brother, or a staff member that's going to help you out.

"What we spoke about was that there will be times when we are all feeling sorry for ourselves over the next 40 days, tired or whatever.

"But when you listen to some of the stories from some of the soldiers, that lost their legs, lost their arms, no hamstrings, back's gone, then we can't moan about a blister. We can't moan about being in a five-star hotel in Le Havre, Nice, wherever we are.

"It (the time with the Marines) was about stripping everything back, turning your iPads off and actually sitting around a place or doing tasks together to actually find out more deeper meaning and connection to your friend next to you.

"I actually think we have a special bond, between me, my staff and my players, but I wanted to take that a step further, and that was like the icing on the cake for me. It was the last bit that we wanted to do.

England have been preparing for the upcoming World Cup at St George's Park
England have been preparing for the upcoming World Cup at St George's Park (John Walton/PA)

"It was just an experience we'd never had, and to shock them into doing that and seeing how they handled it was for me sensational."

Denmark, runners-up at Euro 2017, failed to qualify for this World Cup. They are captained by Wolfsburg forward Pernille Harder, who was second in last year's inaugural Women's Ballon d'Or.

Neville said of the contest at the Banks's Stadium: "We wanted a big test and I think when we spoke to Denmark about arranging this game, the one thing we did probably stipulate is that we wanted their best players to come.

"They're not going to a major championship – they could have brought an experimental team.

"But you want your best players to come, they have brought theirs and this game could be harder than some of the group-stage games we have. Denmark are better than some of the teams in the World Cup."

England are in World Cup Group D alongside Scotland, Japan and Argentina. Their final warm-up game is against New Zealand in Brighton on June 1, and they then open their campaign by facing Scotland eight days later in Nice.

Neville also revealed Lucy Bronze and Toni Duggan, who played for Lyon and Barcelona respectively in last weekend's Women's Champions League final, would be rested on Saturday, and said he would continue at the World Cup to use right-back Bronze in midfield at times, as he has of late.

He said: "Lucy will play in midfield in the tournament, and she'll play at right-back. That's something I'm passionate about, something I believe in, but more importantly it's something Lucy believes in as well."

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Phil Medlicott, Press Association Sport');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'ceaf6aee-ead0-4c73-8326-b9b2c7e44959');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Neville hoping \u2018sensational\u2019 team building with Marines will aid World Cup bid'});

ID:360197: cacheID:360197:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9733:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Steph Houghton pictured in November 2018
Read Next:
England confirm squad numbers for Women's World Cup
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1.15am
Rams
@
49ers
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool14112129111835
2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!